De Anza EWRT 1A survey

De Anza occasionally does tests to make sure things are working properly. This quarter, De Anza is trying to assess that its placement essay for EWRT1A is effective. So if you took a placement essay in order to get into EWRT1A, please complete the survey. But the survey is open to all students, no matter how you got into 1A.

The survey contains eight short questions. You can complete it here.

EWRT1A30: MLA and Malcolm X

The first draft of essay 1 is due Thursday. The more complete your draft, the more you will get out of the comments on it.

Remember that MLA citation is covered in the Rules for Writers book. The rules for MLA style start on page 479. Section 16 on page 486 shows how to do in-text citation for a work in an anthology. Section 22 on page 488 shows in-text citation for a web site. Advice for integrating quotations, including how to use signal phases, starts on page 469. The rules for how to do a works cited entry for an anthology are on page 500. And the rules for a short work on a web site are on page 506. So use the book. If you get confused though, just ask me.

Likewise, both our books talk about thesis statements. Rules for Writers even covers common problems on pages 28-29. The EWRT1A Reader has a lot of good advice about thesis statements on pages 13-15.

And we will discuss Malcolm X's "Learning to Read" in the beginning of class Thursday. In order to understand the significance of "Leaning to Read" by Malcolm X, you should listen to the man speak (if you haven't before). Here is one of his famous speeches, given at Oxford, England 1964. As you listen, remember that he attended pubic school only through eighth grade.

EWRT1A30: essay basics and Anyon reading

Here is a pdf of the slideshow I presented Tuesday about basic essay terms.

And I e-mailed everyone with a link to the Jean Anyon essay for Thursday. If you didn't get the url, then e-mail me. Remember to pay special attention to how Language Arts is taught in the four different types of schools.

EWRT1A-30: essay 1

This is the pdf of the prompts for essay 1. Remember that the first draft is due October 10th.

EWRT1A30: Reading Response 1

Here is the handout about reading responses. Remember that the prompt for the first reading response is on the handout. Future prompts will be posted on this blog. If you have any questions or problems, post a comment here or e-mail me.

EWRT1A30: syllabus and reading for Thursday

Here is a pdf version of the  syllabus.

And here is the reading we will discuss in class on Thursday.

EWRT1A section 30 - the texts

Welcome to EWRT1A section 30!

I just wanted to give you a quick heads-up on the texts. There are three required books for the class, all of which should be available at the bookstore.

• EWRT1A Reader. This is the main reader for the class. It is a print-on-demand reader, so there are only enough for 30 students (the class limit) and the book cannot be purchased anywhere else. The cover is red and it has my name, Nick Mullins, on it. It also has the dates 2012-2013 on the cover. Don't worry. This is the correct book. I am using the same reader that I used last year.
• Rules for Writers, seventh edition. This is the writing handbook for the class. If you already have another handbook, you can probably use that one. You just need to make sure it has the current MLA guidelines.
• Fun Home, Alison Bechdel. This is the book-length work we will read the last few weeks of class.

See you Tuesday, September 24th.